Coin lost in mail, but tracking says "Delivered". What are my options?

BustHalfBrian · July 2, 2015 10:05AM

The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again?

OPA · July 2, 2015 10:20AM

<< The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again? >>

If the PO indicates, delivered, the seller has fulfilled his obligations. Suggest you contact your Post Master and the Postal Inspector. You can always file a police report, indicating that the item may have been stolen at which time your Home Owners Insurance might cover it.
(If this was an eBay transaction, Signature Confirmation is ONLY REQUIRED for sales over $750 ) Why did you wait a whole month? Action should have been taken on your part as soon as the Postal System indicated delivered and it was not in your possession.

AHFreak · July 2, 2015 10:25AM

If you did the transaction through Ebay contact them.... Or if you paid with PayPal contact them.... In either case you will be covered from what I understand.

Good luck.

OPA · July 2, 2015 10:27AM

<< If you did the transaction through Ebay contact them.... Or if you paid with PayPal contact them.... In either case you will be covered from what I understand.

Good luck. >>

HE is not covered if the item indicates: Delivered

CaptHenway · July 2, 2015 10:27AM

Verify that the shipping address was correct. In May a certain variety coin was sent to me for examination. When I didn't get it, I asked the sender to check the tracking number. He did and it showed delivered! I then asked him to verify the address it was sent to, and he had put down the wrong box number.

I printed out his email and went to my post office. Sure enough, the package was still in the other P.O. Box. It had my name on it so after checking my I.D. the guy at the post office gave me the package.

ebaytrader · July 2, 2015 10:27AM

If you bought it on feepay, call them and they'll likely give you courtesy refund. If that fails, and you paid with credit card, file for non receipt. You MUST have a signature for credit card purchases regardless of the amount involved.

BAJJERFAN · July 2, 2015 10:28AM

<< The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again? >>

eBay or private sale? If tracking says delivered, the USPS generally won't honor a claim. Unless you can prove it was handled in a careless manner. Sad to say, I think you're probably SOL. What does your mail carrier have to say about it? Do you have a somewhat secure mail drop?

OPA · July 2, 2015 10:30AM

<< If you bought it on feepay, call them and they'll likely give you courtesy refund. If that fails, and you paid with credit card, file for non receipt. You MUST have a signature for credit card purchases regardless of the amount involved. >>

Not sure where you got that info from, but it's totally inaccurate. That may have been true 30 + years ago, that all cc transactions required a signature, but that no longer holds water.

BAJJERFAN · July 2, 2015 10:33AM

<< If you did the transaction through Ebay contact them.... Or if you paid with PayPal contact them.... In either case you will be covered from what I understand.

Good luck. >>

I do not think that PP is a substitute for providing insurance.

derryb · July 2, 2015 10:34AM

On a $300 item I would have had someone to greet the mailman on the day tracking said "out for delivery." On more than one occasion the mailman said let me double check the back of the truck and sure enough he had it and didn't know it.

MsMorrisine · July 2, 2015 11:13AM

BST, ebay, other?

TopographicOceans · July 2, 2015 11:25AM

Unfortunately if your postal carrier scans it and marks it as delivered, eBay considers it delivered. And since it is delivered insurance doesn't even come into play.

The best thing would have been to ask your carrier if he remembers it, but after a month that is not an option.
You can contact your Post Office, but they won't be able to do anything other than file a report. If it is a pattern with this carrier, then the Postal Inspectors will investigate.

Unless it is a package that doesn't fit in your box, more than likely he put it in one of your neighbors mailboxes. Once in a while I get mail from my neighbors (either next door or the same numbers, but on a different street). A package could have been left on your porch and picked up by somebody else.

It was the post office, not the seller, that let you down.

A good solution would be to get a PO box. It's cheap and not only adds a level of security to you since your eBay trading partners don't know where you live, but it is more secure to receive coins there so things like this don't happen (as often). I still have gotten mail in my PO box for somebody else either next to mine or with the digits transposed.

amwldcoin · July 2, 2015 12:51PM

You do need to watch your tracking and be vigilant if a package shows delivered! So far I have been lucky as several were delivered to the wrong PO Box and returned by the honest box holders for me. If you show your post office due diligence and you are polite it helps a bunch! I have had several mis delivered packages I might not have received if I didn't come in with my tracking numbers for shipments I had not received!

Bochiman · July 2, 2015 12:59PM

So, put yourself in the seller's shoes....you send something to a person for $300 and the post office says it was "delivered".
Now, the buyer says it wasn't received and wants a refund. You don't know him. You are going out of the way to think he is scamming you but, again, you don't know him.

So, do you eat the $300 because he says he never got it (eat it because you don't have the coin either), even though the PO says it was delivered?
Insurance or signature confirmation wouldn't help. It was delivered so insurance is out. May not be able to read signature and it could be anyone's, so that would seldom help other than a person signed for it and it wasn't just left in the mailbox or in front of the door.

Really, only thing I can see that one can legitimately do, is to go to the post office with the facts and to complain....and maybe ask the neighbors if they have seen it. Could have been misdelivered and someone not even paying attention (or still on a doorstep......if I am not expecting something and don't look at my front door as I drive in, something COULD sit there for a month before I may open my door and see it....so, a neighbor of yours could be similar).

If you do go to the PO, maybe there's a pattern of people having "delivered" items but coming in after not receiving them? If you don't go to the PO, you do yourself, and anyone else, a disservice in case there are sticky fingers in their chain of custody.

ebaytrader · July 2, 2015 10:47PM

<< If you bought it on feepay, call them and they'll likely give you courtesy refund. If that fails, and you paid with credit card, file for non receipt. You MUST have a signature for credit card purchases regardless of the amount involved. >>

^ fact based on a decade+ of doing mail order and having a merchant account. Everything else posted was opinion based on nothing.

Do not pay you cc billing for the item until resolved as that is a waiver of you rights. You will be made whole by feepay or your card issuer.

BigA · July 2, 2015 11:47PM

1) the OP made his statement and never returned to clarify questions asked...no clue how the transaction was completed

2)

<< You will be made whole by feepay or your card issuer. >>

ummm...really? So anyone who has a package with tracking saying it was delivered can dispute this fact (even after a month) and get their money back? Sounds like a plan....

BAJJERFAN · July 3, 2015 12:09AM

<< 1) the OP made his statement and never returned to clarify questions asked...no clue how the transaction was completed

2)

<< You will be made whole by feepay or your card issuer. >>

ummm...really? So anyone who has a package with tracking saying it was delivered can dispute this fact (even after a month) and get their money back? Sounds like a plan.... >>

I would expect that you would have to have filed a complaint with your P.O. shortly after the item went missing. There has to be something to investigate.

It sorta defeats a lot of the purpose/benefit of tracking when people don't use it properly/promptly when they're expecting a package, esp. when that package is valuable.

OPA · July 3, 2015 12:46AM

<< Do not pay you cc billing for the item until resolved as that is a waiver of you rights. You will be made whole by feepay or your card issuer. >>

Good luck, with the above scenario....not gonna happen with your cc issuer w/o a police report or a USPS Theft Case #(eBay may initiate a "courtesy" refund)

CaptHenway · July 3, 2015 12:50AM

Did you double=check the address it was sent to?

FWIW, a few months ago I had a Registered package sent to me that was just put in my P.O. Box without being signed for.

bestday · July 3, 2015 12:52AM

<< The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again? >>

The money is lost .. coin was stolen by postal employee or stolen from your mailbox... The P.O. has no idea to track who scans a package delivered

Best to get a P.O Box

bestday · July 3, 2015 12:58AM

<< 

<< If you bought it on feepay, call them and they'll likely give you courtesy refund. If that fails, and you paid with credit card, file for non receipt. You MUST have a signature for credit card purchases regardless of the amount involved. >>

^ fact based on a decade+ of doing mail order and having a merchant account. Everything else posted was opinion based on nothing.

Do not pay you cc billing for the item until resolved as that is a waiver of you rights. You will be made whole by feepay or your card issuer.[/q

Zero ground to stand on.. package mark delivered ....tough crap trying to prove .......not even easy Amex will refund the money

Paypal will take same stance.. ... The fact package was delivered in the eyes of P.O. means they will not giveaway free money

Made whole by ebay ...?????

BAJJERFAN · July 3, 2015 1:43AM

I got a kick out of this listing from another site.

<< $1210 each or $2400 for both. ppg, concealed cash or some other negotiable way I can handle up here without it costing a small fortune. Shipping is on me my way or if you want Insurance, tracking or something else fancy then you friggin pay for it. >>

BustHalfBrian · July 3, 2015 5:09AM

Thank you for all the responses. I took as long as I did to respond because I wanted to take the time to read all of the comments.

To clear some things up; it was an eBay purchase. The address to which the package was sent was not a residence but rather a PO box. I have spent hours speaking with USPS officials both in person and over the phone with little success; they made the same suggestions some of you made regarding the postal inspector. I am no longer using the P.O. box where the incident occurred.

I will give PayPal a call today and see what they can do.

MsMorrisine · July 3, 2015 5:21AM

Sheesh

You live in a big city?

I had a package of mine handed to and marked as delivered to someone else. "It got mixed in". The incorrect recipient brought it back. The postmaster was there answering the phone late Saturday past closing to confirm re-receipt.

Yesterday I got handed someone else's package banded to mine. I handed it back.

These are obviously PO mistakes, but the person actually kept your stuff? Wow.

I would press ebay and paypal on the "not my fault seller did not buy insurance."

botanist · July 3, 2015 5:30AM

Please verify the address it was sent to. Plus, as mentioned by others, it might have been inserted into the wrong box by mistake. With a PO Box of medium or large size, almost anyone can reach inside it from an adjacent PO Box by inserting their arm all the way through. Therefore, if stolen while inside your box, it was not necessarily a PO employee. Sadly, you probably have no recourse because of the considerable delay.

winky · July 3, 2015 5:54AM

All I can tell you is GOOD LUCK !!!

LochNESS · July 3, 2015 5:56AM

Yeah, definitely need to verify the address the sender put on the package. Should be able to do this without contacting the sender. Just ask the post office to what address it was "delivered" ...

My wife once ordered a DVD to our PO Box. It never arrived so she asked the seller to send another, which arrived soon afterwards. Then three months later the first DVD magically arrived (unopened, but definitely handled by USPS machines / workers). No apologies from USPS, no explanation.

Once I mailed a wedding gift to a couple that had decided to move soon after their wedding (bad idea, BTW, if you are expecting to receive gifts in the mail ...) anyway the package was "returned to sender" about three months after I had shipped it. No idea why it took so long. The package only had to travel five miles in each direction.

USPS is still my number one choice, despite these true stories. And believe me, I have many more USPS stories to tell.

Cougar1978 · July 3, 2015 5:57AM

File a not received complaint via ebay or call them. I would try to recover it thru ebay. The seller has refused to refund so he is useless here.

Since the seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation on a $300 item he is out that money if he loses an ebay dispute which I believe he will. Fight him thru ebay and I believe you will get your money back. What he will or won't do or whatever excuse he gives does you no good if you did not get your item. Your only good choice now is to fight him for your money back.

I won a dispute with a seller over a $100 piece of brand new in the box model railroad equipment which did not operate properly. I returned it as instructed, the seller refused to refund with a lame excuse bashing the way it was packaged (offering no alternative solution whatsoever) which was essentially nonsense. He even wrote me a derogatory message about it which I replied in kind. Then I filed an ebay dispute - Ebay sided with me and I was refunded.

Fight him thru ebay to get your money back as soon as possible.

bestday · July 3, 2015 6:08AM

<< Thank you for all the responses. I took as long as I did to respond because I wanted to take the time to read all of the comments.

To clear some things up; it was an eBay purchase. The address to which the package was sent was not a residence but rather a PO box. I have spent hours speaking with USPS officials both in person and over the phone with little success; they made the same suggestions some of you made regarding the postal inspector. I am no longer using the P.O. box where the incident occurred.

I will give PayPal a call today and see what they can do. >>

Wow !! stolen from P.O. box.... should be easy to trace when it came to Postal box branch.. most likely , Postal workers placed coin package in wrong box slot and not returned .... dishonest people abound now

I have sometimes left pricey coins sitting in the P.O. box for days .. no more

TopographicOceans · July 3, 2015 6:08AM

At the Post Office, there is usually just one (or two) people whose job it is to load the PO boxes. You can be pretty sure they didn't steal it since they've got a life time pension at risk, but instead put it in the wrong box after they scanned it and that person kept it.

I went through a period where there were issues at my PO and made sure the guy in charge knew about it.

I got a pink notice in my box for 3 items and when I gave it to the clerk, she said "I just gave these to you". At least she remembered who she gave them to and drove out to their house and picked them up, so I got them unopened. One was a $2,000 coin.

This was after I got a nice PMG bank note I didn't order. Their box ended in 8 and mine ends in 3.
I took it back to the same woman and she asks "Why did you open it?". I felt like saying "Because you put it in my box, you freaking idiot" but I left off the "idiot" part.

People make mistakes and in life sometimes the person who makes the mistake isn't the one that suffers from it.

bestday · July 3, 2015 6:14AM

<< File a not received complaint via ebay or call them. I would try to recover it thru ebay. The seller has refused to refund so he is useless here.

Since the seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation on a $300 item he is out that money if he loses an ebay dispute which I believe he will. Fight him thru ebay and I believe you will get your money back. What he will or won't do or whatever excuse he gives does you no good if you did not get your item. Your only good choice now is to fight him for your money back.

Fight him thru ebay to get your money back as soon as possible. >>

folks.... USPS says delivered in system .. what proof does buyer have .. that package was not delivered ? unfortunately, a losers road to pursue

Seller has fulfilled his side of deal, with delivery confirm .... rather surprised no sig confirm came with package

BAJJERFAN · July 3, 2015 6:29AM

<< Sheesh

You live in a big city?

I had a package of mine handed to and marked as delivered to someone else. "It got mixed in". The incorrect recipient brought it back. The postmaster was there answering the phone late Saturday past closing to confirm re-receipt.

Yesterday I got handed someone else's package banded to mine. I handed it back.

These are obviously PO mistakes, but the person actually kept your stuff? Wow.

I would press ebay and paypal on the "not my fault seller did not buy insurance." >>

It sounds like this seller typically doesn't insure shipments. At any rate it's immaterial here as it shows delivered. It was either put into the wrong PO box and the boxholder kept it or it was stolen from the correct PO box.

BAJJERFAN · July 3, 2015 6:38AM

<< Yeah, definitely need to verify the address the sender put on the package. Should be able to do this without contacting the sender. Just ask the post office to what address it was "delivered" ...

My wife once ordered a DVD to our PO Box. It never arrived so she asked the seller to send another, which arrived soon afterwards. Then three months later the first DVD magically arrived (unopened, but definitely handled by USPS machines / workers). No apologies from USPS, no explanation.

Once I mailed a wedding gift to a couple that had decided to move soon after their wedding (bad idea, BTW, if you are expecting to receive gifts in the mail ...) anyway the package was "returned to sender" about three months after I had shipped it. No idea why it took so long. The package only had to travel five miles in each direction.

USPS is still my number one choice, despite these true stories. And believe me, I have many more USPS stories to tell. >>

After this amount of time is there a way to get a duplicate of the mailing label that the seller generated?

Dennis88 · July 3, 2015 6:59AM

Call USPS and talk to speak to a supervisor. They will be able to pull up a scan of the item label and tell you what it says on there.

Most of the people you get on the phone initially won't be able to do this, so you have to press for someone higher up.

Also, if you were to open an eBay case about this and claim it wasn't delivered, the first time eBay will refund you the money and let the seller keep their money. Now, if you do this regularly of course they will figure out what's going on. Also, if according to eBay rules the seller should have purchased signature confirmation and he didn't, the seller is the one at fault here, and you will get your money back and eBay will take the money from the seller.

Cases like these are very straight forward with eBay, as long as you don't misuse the system.

Dennis

ebaybuyer · July 4, 2015 4:50AM

stick it to the seller, if he or she can afford to sell on ebay, then they must be rich

roadrunner · July 4, 2015 7:29AM

Not likely the local USPS postmaster will help you as the package was "delivered" per their system. Just went through this with my local PO and they wouldn't do anything except side with their carrier....and the sender wouldn't do anything. Don't see why PP or Ebay would lift a finger either. I did have success with my CC company who comped me for the item. It was the first ever CC dispute I ever opened up. Even though the sender said they sent it, and the USPS said they delivered it, my CC company didn't believe them. Justice was served. I was even home the Saturday they claimed delivery....painting the foundation of the house all weekend - and we got no mail whatsoever that day....substitute carrier too.

TomB · July 4, 2015 8:23AM

A lot of folks are telling you to hammer the seller, but I think that is poor form. At the level of value ($300, if I recall correctly) of the package, ebay and PayPal do not at this time require Signature Confirmation (again, as far as I recall). Therefore, if the PO says "delivered" then it was "delivered". Additionally, some folks are writing that the seller should have used insurance, but if the PO states "delivered" then insurance will not come into play, either. It appears that the disappearance of the item is in no way related to the seller, as long as it was shipped to the correct address, which to my way of thinking means that you shouldn't force the seller to eat the loss.

leothelyon · July 4, 2015 10:23AM

<< The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again? >>

I can't even begin to fathom anyone sending me a $300 package without insurance and signature confirmation. I mean, I'll even pay for it......it is my money at risk! It is very important to exercise the tools available at your disposal to cover your butt. But I guess, people who have a few hundred thousands at their disposal, such things must likely become a bother.

Leo

OPA · July 4, 2015 11:46AM

<< 

<< The seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation. The value is about $300. It was shipped on Jun. 1, so I think it's gone for good. I contacted the seller yestersay (a full month later) and he will not refund.

Will I ever see the money again? >>

I can't even begin to fathom anyone sending me a $300 package without insurance and signature confirmation. I mean, I'll even pay for it......it is my money at risk! It is very important to exercise the tools available at your disposal to cover your butt. But I guess, people who have a few hundred thousands at their disposal, such things must likely become a bother.

Leo >>

ONCE AGAIN...PAYPAL ONLY REQUIRES SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION ON ITEMS ABOVE $750. GOOD LUCK in filing an insurance claim on any coin whose value is primarily bullion based. Bullion and cash do not qualify for insurance with any carrier. ( I believe there is an exception for bullion if mailed via registered mail)

TwoSides2aCoin · July 4, 2015 11:52AM

There are liars, cheaters and thieves out there. Some in here, too. These things happen occasionally but the rats usually rat.

My short answer : WAIT is over. File a claim. If item arrives and you end up with it, and do not reimburse the seller, then you're the liar, cheater and thief.
Seller did his part and a chain is as strong as it's weakest link. Insurance doesn't mean squat except that the Post Office makes more money for doing even less.

That's my opinion. Strong it is.

If another person in "THE SYSTEM" is the crook, and that's a strong possibility, then it's too late. THE SHTF and this is our last Christmas.

OPA · July 4, 2015 12:01PM

<< File a not received complaint via ebay or call them. I would try to recover it thru ebay. The seller has refused to refund so he is useless here.

Since the seller did not purchase insurance or signature confirmation on a $300 item he is out that money if he loses an ebay dispute which I believe he will. Fight him thru ebay and I believe you will get your money back. What he will or won't do or whatever excuse he gives does you no good if you did not get your item. Your only good choice now is to fight him for your money back.

I won a dispute with a seller over a $100 piece of brand new in the box model railroad equipment which did not operate properly. I returned it as instructed, the seller refused to refund with a lame excuse bashing the way it was packaged (offering no alternative solution whatsoever) which was essentially nonsense. He even wrote me a derogatory message about it which I replied in kind. Then I filed an ebay dispute - Ebay sided with me and I was refunded.

Fight him thru ebay to get your money back as soon as possible. >>

Total misinformation...a) Item sold for less than $750, as such, signature confirmation was not required by Paypal. Insurance in that case would have been a moot point. (btw buyer never indicated what type of coin he purchased, it may not have qualified for insurance in the first place) .. PO indicates delivered... Buyer will loose this case. There is no guarantee that eBay would consider a "courtesy" settlement. After 30 days, I most certainly would not. Time to crack some knuckles at his Post Office.

derryb · July 4, 2015 12:50PM

VanHalen · July 4, 2015 1:47PM

<< >>

derryb gets credit for the shortest message ever on CU Forums.

BAJJERFAN · July 4, 2015 2:59PM

<< >>

That's just profound!

GotTheBug · July 4, 2015 11:19PM

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Coin lost in mail, but tracking says "Delivered". What are my options?

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Coin lost in mail, but tracking says &quot;Delivered&quot;. What are my options?

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The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!

My Jefferson Nickel Collection

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Coin lost in mail, but tracking says "Delivered". What are my options?